Daniel 2:1-25

Good News Translation

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

2 In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, ² so he sent for his fortunetellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, ³ he said to them, “I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means.”

⁴ They answered the king in Aramaic,^[a] “May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you.”

⁵ The king said to them, “I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. ⁶ But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means.”

⁷ They answered the king again, “If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it.”

⁸ At that, the king exclaimed, “Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind ⁹ to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means.”

¹⁰ The advisers replied, “There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortunetellers, magicians, and wizards. ¹¹ What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings.”

¹² At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. ¹³ So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends.

God Shows Daniel What the Dream Means

¹⁴ Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king's bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, ¹⁵ he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened.

¹⁶ Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. ¹⁷ Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. ¹⁸ He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. ¹⁹ Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven:

Daniel Tells the King the Dream and Explains It

²⁴ So Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to execute the royal advisers. He said to him, “Don't put them to death. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”

²⁵ At once Arioch took Daniel into King Nebuchadnezzar's presence and told the king, “I have found one of the Jewish exiles who can tell Your Majesty the meaning of your dream.”